Last year proved to be an annus horribilis for Zara Tindall. First, she failed to be selected for the Olympic equestrian team owing to concerns about the fitness of her horse High Kingdom.

She then suffered a miscarriage, losing her second child.

'The Queen’s granddaughter has bounced back with a truly remarkable performance, having claimed £31,000 in prize money for finishing third on High Kingdom at one of the most challenging international competitions in the equestrian calendar'

Now the Queen’s granddaughter has bounced back with a truly remarkable performance, having claimed £31,000 in prize money for finishing third on High Kingdom at one of the most challenging international competitions in the equestrian calendar — the Kentucky Rolex three-day event, in Lexington, U.S.

As a former world champion — a title she claimed in 2006, when she was also voted BBC Sports Personality of The Year — Zara has known great success.

But her performance at Lexington, where she was the only British competitor, is her best placing since taking silver as a member of the British Eventing Team at the London Olympics in 2012.

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Yet it was only on Christmas Eve that Zara, who had been four months into her pregnancy, issued a joint statement with her husband, Mike Tindall, to say she had miscarried.

She soon returned to a punishing training schedule, involving an early morning work-out on an exercise bike, a full day working with High Kingdom, and then ‘extra exercise’, either cycling or swimming.

Zara, 35, clearly shares the robustness of her mother, Princess Anne, who famously insisted that Zara and her brother Peter should not bear royal titles, in a bid to allow them to live more ‘normal’ lives.

'Husband Mike was unable to witness his wife’s triumph, remaining with their daughter Mia, three, at their cottage on Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate.'

Husband Mike was unable to witness his wife’s triumph, remaining with their daughter Mia, three, at their cottage on Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate.

But there was no lack of appreciation from excitable fans, one of whom accidentally fell into the Lexington lake just after Zara and High Kingdom had cleared the final fence.

Topless Daley in doghouse

'Olympic diving star Tom Daley has been branded a ‘hypocrite’ for sharing a video online in which he strips off for a workout.'

Olympic diving star Tom Daley has been branded a ‘hypocrite’ for sharing a video online in which he strips off for a workout.

Angry social media followers have vented anger at the footage, posted on his official YouTube channel, because Tom recently complained about being objectified.

‘There’s more to me than just a body,’ the 22-year-old bleated, before making the video called Tops Off For Summer. In it, Tom starts with a T-shirt on but strips off before demonstrating his jumping jacks and sit-ups. ‘I guess it wouldn’t be “Tops off for summer” if I still had my top on,’ he reasoned.

One fan named Ian commented: ‘And you said that you don’t want to be seen as just a body!!!’ Another concurred by writing: ‘Hypocrite.’

Roger Federer was among the guests at American Vogue editor Anna Wintour’s pre-Met Gala dinner in New York

Socks clearly aren't in Vogue for Federer...

Roger Federer was among the guests at American Vogue editor Anna Wintour’s pre-Met Gala dinner in New York.

Dressed all in black, bar a crisp white shirt, Federer, 35, gave his ensemble a chic twist with a daring display of ankle cleavage.

Wintour has long had a crush on the tennis ace, and he is one of the few people able to put a smile on her face.

She styles the tennis gear he wears, is the inspiration for his clothes line and even advises him on his haircut.

‘I bounce all kinds of ideas off her,’ he once revealed.

‘What to wear on and off the court, sponsors, everything.’

Double Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell’s bid to become the Conservative candidate in Brentford and Isleworth has been scuppered. ‘He was asked whether there should be more rowing clubs and rather fluffed the question,’ says my man. ‘He was decisively defeated and only got a few votes. I think they only voted for him out of pity.’ Since his stellar sports career, Cracknell has had to overcome a brain injury after being hit by a truck in 2010 as he cycled across the U.S. for a TV documentary.

Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson took time out from the election campaign to analyse Hollywood villains. ‘The Joker is an anarchist and despot who wants to destroy the system by introducing chaos to the established order,’ he says. ‘But like all anarchists he needs the Establishment, in the form of the Gotham Police Department and Batman, to validate his world view. Every anarchist needs a system to smash.’ He could easily be talking about his boss, Jeremy Corbyn.

You might have thought filming in India for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel would have been heaven for tea-loving Bill Nighy. But the country’s world-famous native strains were not to his taste, so he took his own brew. Nighy, 67, says: ‘I’m addicted to Yorkshire Tea. I even take it to India with me, which seems bonkers, but no other tea hits the spot for me.’